Balmoral golf club Down

Members Achievements

Eva Branks who won the Ulster under-16 boys and girls open on 15th July 2022 at Bangor Golf Club.

Balmoral Golf Club won the Ulster Final of the Fred Daly Trophy when they beat Cairndhu Golf Club by 4-matches to 3-matches on Sunday 7th August 2011.

They met Leinster Champions Carton House Golf Club in the All-Ireland Semi-Final on Tuesday 16th August at Ardee Golf Club. They were led by Matthew McLean who beat Conor Glynn by 1-hole, he was followed by Stuart Bleakley who lost to Keith Egan by 5 and 4, next up was Daniel Carlin who had a narrow 1-hole defeat to Harry Coyne, Aidan Cochrane lost his match by 5 and 4 to Sean O'Connor, Patrick Brennan also had a bad day when losing by 6 and 4 against Marc Boucher, the bottom two matches of Ryan Straney against Sean Walsh and Ted Harmon against Adam Talbot were both halved.

Carton House Golf Club went on to clinch the green pennant in the afternoon when they beat Connacht Champions Co. Sligo Golf Club by 5½-matches to 1½-matches to collect their first All-Ireland Championship in their short history and went on to win the European ChampionshipBalmoral's Professional Geoff Bleakley was elected Captain of the PGAIreland in 2002.

Balmoral won the Ulster Championship of the Irish Junior Cup in 2020.

Balmoral won the All-Ireland Final of the Irish Junior Cup in 1922.

They won the Ulster Championship of the Irish Junior Cup in 1970.

They won the Ulster Championship of the Jimmy Bruen Shield in 1979.  

They won the Ulster Cup in 1980, 1968, 1934 and 1920.

They won the Belfast and District Cup in 1931 and 1930.

Members who played representative golf for Country or Province;

Peter Martin was selected to represent Ireland at the Maidstone Club in NewYork, on 13-14 October, 1999, and  participated in the Boys HomeInternational matches in 1995, having played Ulster Boys in 1993 and 1994,playing 10 matches, and won the Joe Carr Perpetual Award in 1996 with 110points.  He represented Ulster in the Senior Interprovincial’s from 2000 to 2001 playing 9-times won 7-matches and lost 2-matches accumulating 14-points. He represented Ulster as a Youth in the Interprovincial Championships from 1995 to 1998 playing 17-times won 10-matches halved one and lost 6-matches accumulating 21-points. He represented Ulster at the Boys Interprovincial Championships from 1993 to 1994 playing 10-times won 4-matches halved one and lost 5-matches accumulating 9-points;

Lisa Lynch played for the Irish Girls in 1983;

Paula Gorman played for the Irish Girls in 1988;

History of Balmoral

Instituted 1914affiliated 1915

As with many other Irish Golf Clubs, the early records of Balmoral aresparse. The GUI records show that it affiliated on 17th November, 1915.

The Lands were first rented at £297.16.0. A special AGM was held on 8thSeptember, 1918, at which it was agreed to purchase the course for £8,000 andform a Ltd. Co. The Captain was Mr. A. C. Young.
It would be impossible to reflect on the history of Balmoral without referring to the name of the late and great Fred Daly. Fred was attached to Balmoral for the last 45 or so years of his life and must go down as being a star if not a superstar of British and Irish golf in his day. Fred was known and loved the world over for his ready wit and charm and for holding the distinction of being the first Irishman to win the Open in 1947 at the age of 36. Fred achieved much in his career despite the fact that the bulk of his prime coincided with the Second World War. His Open win aside, many would be proud to have his record over the next four years; second as the defending champion to Henry Cotton in 1948, tied for second in 1950, fourth in 1951 and third in 1952.

As three times British Matchplay Champion and only the second man this century to do the double of the Open and the Matchplay, Fred’s record speaks for itself. One particular day is worth recounting in the 1953 British Matchplay Championship. Fred was drawn in the second round against Alan ‘Tiger’ Poulton. After 18 holes they were still locked together and they set out to play sudden death tie holes. Finally, after a gruelling five hours and ten minutes, Fred won the 12th tie hole. Not content with setting one record that day for the longest match, Fred then played a young up and coming professional called Peter Alliss in the third round after only a ten minute break. Fred proceeded to produce scintillating golf resulting in one of the more forgettable matches in Alliss’s career. Touring the front nine in 31 shots, Fred despatched Alliss by the crushing margin of 6 & 5 in one hour and fifty minutes.

‘In the annals of golfing the name of Fred Daly is among the greatest. This ex-shilling-a-round caddie from Portrush, who never had a golf lesson in his life, won the Open Championship at Hoylake, against the best in the world. Until 2007, when Padraig Harrington won The Open, followed in 2011 by Darren Clarke, he was the only Irishman with his name engraved on the famous claret jug beside those players such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.’ – Eoin McQuillan

‘One of the finest long iron players in the game, he could knock your hat off with a one iron at 220 yards.’ – Sam Snead